This is a large-growing tree, multiple specimens will need quite a bit of room in time. And like other birches it becomes hard to grow other plants beneath them after awhile. Away from cool sites and damp soils the roots of birch trees dry the soil beneath them markedly in summer. Weevil damage to plants among them is liable to be excessive.

$15 (plus shipping etc.) for 2-3' plant in spring forestfarm catalog that just came. Bare-rooted trees will probably soon appear at local outlets, purchased in that condition these are much less than potted stock.

Or gather fresh seeds in season and start your own. Birch seeds germinate and grow under lights indoors without pre-treatment. With a suitable setup you can have planting-ready stock the following spring.

A drawback is that seed from birch trees growing in cultivation often produces hybrid offspring.

Raintree has 1'-2' plants for under ten dollars!

The trees are for an area that I intend to be a low maintenance woodland garden away from the house. All I plan to grow under them are tough ground covers. A lot of our native ground covers are adapted to dry summer conditions. Maybe some spring bulbs when the area is damp. Wood hyacinths and daffodils would be pretty.

I'm planting a an amphitheater of western cedars with a circle of 6-8 birches in front like a the columns of a temple. The white trunks will glow against the dark cedars. Maybe salal or wild strawberries underneath. I realize it sounds a little fey, and it's not the sort of thing I usually plant. I like mixed, layered, naturalistic plantings, but Mr. Hallerlake used to be an architect, and likes formality. This plan represents a compromise.

i would guess that their trees are not the best but you could try:
http://www.arborday.org/

cheap cheap cheap trees.

Thank you, but I was looking for something specific which they don't have.

Since weevils tend to be murder on plants around birches salal and strawberry are two things I would avoid.

G. Schenk wrote in his book The Complete Shade Gardener that perhaps one should plan on cutting down birches after about 15 years because by that time it was pretty much impossible to have nice plantings beneath them.

Bboy,

What would you suggest instead (besides cutting them down)?

I am not an expert at all... But, quaking aspen sound so nice and look a little? like what you were thinking about and are natives to PNW....

Mike

I'm not sure I'd be overly concerned about underplanting.....root weevils are pretty ubiquitous around here and if you have the western red cedars, they will be present regardless. And weevil damage to things like salal tends to be limited to the cosmetic. If this intended planting is somewhere out of primary view, then you can judge how unslightly the potential for weevil damage may be. I suggest to my clients to use the "10' rule". If the damage is seen daily and from within 10' - like along a front entry walkway - then you may want to rethink the plant choices or treat to control the weevils. But if the planting is viewed primarily from a distance - greater than 10' - as this woodland area would appear to be, and infrequently, it is likely to be quite tolerable and for the most part unnoticed.

And since you plan to start with such young trees, your choices for underplanting are not necessarily limited to small, groundcover stuff - smaller shrubs planted simultaneously with the birches will establish and claim their space before the birch roots make planting problematic. Choices for plants should lean towards those that will require minimal maintenance like dividing, as once the root system is well established it DOES get hard to cultivate/plant in the area. Rhododendrons are typical companion plants for Himalayan birches in their native environment and not all rhodies are necessarily weevil fodder! Other suggestions are black mondo grass (Wakehurst Garden in the UK uses this under Himalayan birches to geat effect), epimediums, hellebores, low growing vaccinium species (V. vitis-idea or moupinense), Sarcococca humilis or the native salal or mahonia. IME, Euphorbia robbiae is completely weevil-resistant and makes an excellent evergreen groundcover in an area that will eventually be a dry shade situation.

The nursery I work with has an old (60?), venerable 50'+ Himalayan birch planted in a display bed, part of the original homestead planting. It is underplanted with several of the shrubs listed above as well as ferns and hakone grass. And there is a large ceramic container in the setting as well that is changed out for seasonal color.

An issue to consider with the aspens, should you choose that route, is their potential for suckering. Members of this genus tend to form large colonies via root suckers, especially if subject to stress or any sort of root disturbance.

Thank you, Gardengal, for your helpful suggestions.